Here are the minutes from yesterdays Golf Committee Meeting.
Golf Committee meeting Minutes
December 28th2011
In attendance – B. Dyer (Chair) T. Skogen, J. Dammeyer, T. Shephard, K. Davis, K. Knowles, A. Wilkes, P. Friedman Regrets T. Sprott, G. Osborn, A. Zamiara (Partial attendance)

Report from Head Pro – Jennifer Dammeyer.
We were advised that the club plans to hold a ‘divot party’ on January 16th, in the afternoon when golf is over for the day. (Tom Shephard told us the proper height to fill a divot was just below the surrounding surface level, to avoid damaging the blades of the mowers). Jennifer will advertize this in the near future. This will cover both fairways and greens.
A meeting with the marshals was recently held dealing with pace of play and cart etiquette policies. It was noted by some committee members that slower golfers were now being contacted, and in some cases, we asked to let fast groups behind play through. While the maximum time should be 4 hours, players who are on track for 4 hours should not hold up a faster team playing behind them, if the course is open ahead.
Jennifer advised that Andrew is leaving the cart barn team to pursue school and that she is currently in the process of hiring two more people to bring the team up to its full complement.
The topic of non-compliance with policies/infractions by club members was addressed. The committee was shown drafts of various types of letters sent out to offending members at Mission Hills and debate ensued. The topics covered in the Mission Hills draft included such topics as
 2 cart rule not observed, unless pre-authorized
 Driving carts on prohibited areas near greens, tees or off the path on par 3’s
 Slow play
 Inappropriate Member behaviour
 Clearly, this topic needs some additional work, as other topics such as uses of cell phones; dress code etc could fall under this umbrella. So, we need further discussions on the scope and implications etc for such a program, given its sensitive nature – especially in today’s competitive club environment. It was noted that the Mission Hills communications came from the golf committee i.e. peers, not management.
There were discussions regarding the impact of the fence as it relates to the Rules of Golf, in particular, when a ball skips across the lake, hits the coot fence and bounces back into the lake. As the fence isn’t attached to the concrete edging, it appears that the “point of entry” is on the far side of the lake. With many competitive golf events coming up in the New Year, it is clear that we must understand the various options that are available when dealing with the new fences. (As our lakes are considered
lateral water hazards, there are 5 possible options available, and having the ‘point of entry’ on the far side will result in some interesting interpretations)

Report from Course Superintendent – Tom Shephard
The bulk of Tom’s report dealt with the issue of the coots and the remedial steps taken to minimize their impact. Tom advised that the planes/model boats people were visiting the club twice each day. Also, the fencing is now complete all around the lake at 9 and 18. He is considering bring back a dog patrol, but this hasn’t been determined as yet. The club is in the process of obtaining permits from the Fish and Wildlife department but this will take 2 or 3 months, at the current rate of processing permits. So, in due course, we can expect to embark on a predation program to support the programs that currently are in place. Tom has spoken to the Audubon Society, and although this society is primarily devoted to the preservation of environment and wildlife, they understand that coots on golf courses is not an acceptable situation, especially as they are not native birds in a desert environment. Accordingly, they would not object to our predation plans. Clearly, with regard to coots, our goal should be to control the situation – as total eradication at DFCC is most unlikely. We discussed the situation at other clubs and noted that PGA West is now embarking on the remote plane program on a trial basis. There was some discussion about the efficacy of this program – but most agreed that it should be continued for time being.
Tom talked about some other minor issues – and mentioned that the grass around the practice chipping area would be mowed using a higher cut, to more properly reflect the longer grass encountered on the course.
He said that this is a busy time of year dealing with paperwork – as all the licences, permits that are necessary to run a golf course require renewal at this time.

Report from General Manager - Tim Skogen
Tim’s report focused on the longer term plan for the golf course – primarily bunker remediation. He summarized what was carried out this year- and outlined what is planned for the summer of 2012 and thereafter. In general terms, we are about 1/3 way through the program and if funding is available again in 2012, we would be about 2/3 through the bunker program at the end of the summer of 2012. At this time, the capital expenditure budget for 2012 is awaiting approval and so it might be some time before we know for sure if, and to what extent this program can be funded. The good news is that ‘corporate’ are aware that there is a long term plan for the course and that we are only part way through the bunker project.
For 2012, Tim said that the priority was the bunkers on holes 5,6, 14, (and maybe 1 and 2). Tom Shephard stressed that there was no point in simply replacing the sand without remodelling and re-designing. To do so without the preparation work would have a poor payback. Each bunker requires different focus - such as drainage, re-shaping, reviewing the irrigation situation etc. He noted that they had replaced the sand at the practice facility and it had almost reverted back to its original state. So,
there is no substitute but to simply work our way through the various holes on a systematic and prioritized basis.
(Clearly, this discussion did not deal with other aspects of capital expenditure, such as the needs for equipment renewal and tee upgrades, both of which impact the allocation of resources)
The project dealing with re-sizing the greens is completed and they are more or less back to their original size.
Next meeting – January 25th at 2 pm in the private dining room
Respectfully submitted by Brian Dyer (Chair)